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Nothing Goes to Waste Sometimes you may wonder how Miles Jesu uses the donations you send. I would like to share with all our members, benefactors, and readers how we spend money in Miles Jesu. None of the community members has their own private money and we receive almost all of our food, clothing, and furniture by begging. For example, here in Rome once a week two community members rise at 4:30 AM to go to the fruit and vegetable market. On another day of the week they go to beg for meat at the meat market. Last week our members brought back fruit and vegetables that would have cost around $400. Besides feeding our two communities, we receive enough to feed 120 poor people twice a week. So rather than spending your donations on these things, we are able to put them to good use in many different apostolates. A newspaper in the former Soviet Union estimates that there are 4 million neglected children throughout Eastern Europe. Thousands of these children literally live on the street and become prey to drug rings and child prostitution. Miles Jesu members staff two Boys’ Towns and one Girls’ Town in Eastern Europe in order to help these children who face desperate circumstances. At the Bortniky Boys’ Town 18 boys are cared for, while at the newly founded Muratovo Boys’ Town, 4 boys have been recently received. At the L’viv Girls’ Town there are 7 girls with plans to receive 5 more this spring. The Miles Jesu members who staff these Boys’ and Girls’ Towns receive no salary and live very simply and poorly – like all our communities around the world. Donations that you give for these apostolates go directly to the poor who really need the help. At the Grivtsova center for homeless children in the former Soviet Union, 300 children are provided a meal and a place to recreate during the day. At the same center, a team of doctors performs 200 medical procedures a month for children and for poor people who cannot afford medical care. In many parts of the world, supplying a daily meal can change someone’s life drastically. At the L’viv Soup Kitchen, 300 families are fed daily. Many of these people, if not for this meal, wouldn’t eat at all. Whole families eat at the soup kitchen, including children who would otherwise be neglected. There are two Girls’ Towns and one Boys’ Town staffed by Miles Jesu members in Nigeria. The girls are located in the villages of Umanachi and Unugu, with 7 girls each. Living conditions in Nigeria are very poor and it is a challenge to provide adequate living quarters, food, and education for these children. In the village of Eziowelle there are 15 boys. Also, in the city of Onitsha, Miles Jesu members carry out an apostolate of feeding prisoners who are rejected by Nigerian society and have no hope left in life. Your donations to Miles Jesu can accomplish a lot. Nothing goes to waste. You may be surprised to know that $1 can provide a full meal for 15 children from the slums in India where Miles Jesu members in Bombay feed 150 children daily. In the village of Sirsi, Miles Jesu members take care of 6 homeless boys and in the village of Eluru, 6 girls. Every Miles Jesu community – from Phoenix to Chicago, London to Rome, Eastern Europe to India and Nigeria – begs for their food, clothing, and living necessities in order to be able to help the poor in each foundation. In this way, your generous donations can help even more people. Even in the United States, Miles Jesu members in Phoenix sponsor an outreach to Nogales, a border town between the U.S. and Mexico, which distributes 150 hot meals every day to the many who come in their need. Many of our Boys Towns and Girls Towns, Soup Kitchens and Medical Missions are expanding. There are so many hungry and homeless people and abandoned children who need our support. We expect the size of our Boys Town and Girls Town in India to double in size by this June. You may not be able to travel to foreign countries to bring Christ to these poor, but you can help in our missions with your pledge of $100 a month, $50 a month, or whatever your generosity and means allow. Your help makes all the difference in the world! |